War and Conflict

War and conflict have been major drivers of movement, particularly since the end of the Cold War. Migration in conflict settings tends to be mixed in several senses, not least because poverty, inequality and conflict often co-exist: those who flee a country where conflict, persecution, discrimination and human rights abuse are rife, for example, may also be trying to escape dire economic circumstances – which may themselves feed into such conflict, persecution, discrimination and human rights abuse. People may then move to escape life or death circumstances; they may move to escape intolerable living conditions; they may move to better themselves; or they move for a combination of these and other reasons. Mixed migration is a feature of different stages of the migratory process: motivations may be mixed at the point of making the decision to move; different kinds of migrants may make use of the same agents and brokers; they may travel with others in mixed migratory flows; motivations may change en route and after arrival; and people may find themselves in mixed communities during their journeys or at their destination.